Personnel Profile

Dr. April Conkey, Assistant Professor

April Ann Torres Conkey grew up on a small family farm in Poteet, Texas and is a proud Javelina Alumni. She came to Texas A&I University as a student in 1989 and earned a B.Sci. degree in Biology in 1993 as a member of the first class to graduate under the Texas A&M University-Kingsville name. Undergraduate research led to her Master's project focused on the anti-hemorrhagic response of woodrats to rattlesnake venom (National Natural Toxins Research Center, TAMU-K). In 2009 she earned a Ph.D. in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences at Texas A&M University in College Station, Tx where she evaluated freshwater wetland mitigation permitting and project persistence along the upper Texas coast. After graduation, she taught at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar with research on the diet of the spiny-tailed lizard. With a wealth of teaching experience and a diverse research background, Dr. Conkey joined the faculty at TAMU-K in 2012 as an Assistant Professor of Range and Wildlife Management and Wildlife Education Specialist.

Dr. Conkey's research experience includes rattlesnake venom resistance in woodrats, waterfowl use of rice wetlands, freshwater wetland mitigation policy and spatial analyses, and the diet of the spiny-tailed lizard in Qatar. Current research projects include behavioral ecology and reproductive physiology of the Ethiopian hedgehog in Qatar, bird-window collision surveys on the TAMUK campus (Ecological Research as Education Network), and a wild bird curriculum and citizen science project. Her education research focuses on incorporating and assessing research case studies into K-16 lessons to teach fundamental ecological and wildlife management concepts.